Rosamund de la Hey made BA president

Rosamund de la Hey, owner and founder of The Mainstreet Trading Company, has been made president of the Booksellers Association.

She takes over the role from Tim Walker, who has occupied it for the past two years.

De la Hey, who was children's marketing director at Bloomsbury before opening her St Boswells bookshop, said: “As a former publisher it was an eye-opener to discover the breadth and depth of the work done by the BA when I opened The Mainstreet Trading Company in 2008 and it is a great privilege to be able to be a part of its future at such an exciting time.”

She added: “Tim’s contribution to the BA over the last two years has been amazing and it’s very clear how much impact he has had.”
 
BA chief executive Tim Godfray also thanked Walker for his "fantastic" work, and commented: “We’re thrilled that Rosamund is joining the BA as president. What’s particularly special about Rosamund is that as well as having created a stunning community bookshop, she is also a former publisher, which will be hugely valuable to the BA."

Lucy Menendez of WH Smith and Nic Bottomley of Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights are also appointed as vice-presidents.

The moves were announced at the BA annual general meeting at London Book Fair yesterday (12th April).